ARRESTS, vehicle seizures and verbal warnings marked a major police operation that saw more than 250 motorists stopped by officers.

Operation Checkpoint involved 86 officers from seven northern forces working together to crackdown on travelling criminals and rural crime yesterday (Tuesday, September 9).

Officers from North Yorkshire, Durham, Cleveland, Cumbria, Northumbria, Scotland and British Transport Police shared intelligence and used automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) to target known crooks and disrupt the activities of organised gangs operating across the borders.

North Yorkshire Police also worked with Trading Standards and Environmental Health to check the carriage of livestock.

A total of 254 vehicles were stopped, leading to three arrests, seven vehicle seizures and 17 fines being issued for offences including driving without MOTs, cannabis possession and speeding.

The three arrests were made in North Yorkshire and involved a 19-year-old man and 17-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of using counterfeit notes in Skipton and a man who was wanted by West Yorkshire Police on suspicion of burglary.

British Transport Police assisted with searches of scrap dealers and one in North Yorkshire’s Hambleton area was given a compliance notice after officers discovered discrepancies in his paperwork.

Officers in County Durham are also following up reports of suspicious activity by a group of men on land in the Cornsay Colliery area.

Det Insp Mick Bird, intelligence manager for Durham Constabulary, said: “The people we targeted in this operation are active across the north of England and the Borders.

“They use a wide range of vehicles to transport stolen property including hire vans and pool cars and often try to use minor roads in order to avoid detection.

“The ANPR cameras are especially effective in an operation like this.

“We can deploy them to wherever they are needed and they enable police across several areas to co-ordinate intelligence and track the movements of suspicious vehicles.”

North Yorkshire Police’s assistant chief constable Paul Kennedy said the operation sent a clear message to criminals that officers are united in disrupting their behaviour and bringing them to justice.

He added: “By working together across borders we can work smarter to share information to target criminals wherever they are from and wherever they are going.

“My thanks go to our colleagues across the north of England and Scotland who took part in the operation.

“We look forward to holding many more similar initiatives in the future.”